Vince Russo's 10 Insider Stories From Running WWF Magazine
2. Austin 3:16
After being at King of the Ring, and seeing Stone Cold Steve Austin deliver his historic Austin 3:16 promo, I couldnt wait to go back to the office and use that million-dollar-phrase on the cover of the Raw Magazine. So, along with the art director, we picked out a great close-up shot of Steve and changed it to a grainy black-n-white masterpiece, with a trickle of red blood coming for Austins lip. Next to the photo we stamped in big letters---AUSTIN 3: 16. I then took this piece of ground breaking art, and ran it over to the television studio that Vince was at to get his approval. Vince looked at the picture and asked meWhat does Austin 3:16 mean? I explained to Vince that Steve had used that phrase at King of the Ring, and I just had a gut feeling that it was going to be HUGE! Vince looked at me and calmly said, I dont get it . . . take it off.
Former head of creative for the WWF and WCW during the most crucial period in wrestling industry history. Currently working on pyroandballyhoo.com, writing weekly slideshows exclusively for WhatCulture.com.
